Copa confident in regulatory approval of three-way JV

Copa Airlines said it had been in discussions with United and Avianca for a potential joint venture "for quite some time", as it reiterated confidence that any deal would attain regulatory approval amid heightened joint venture activity in Latin America. Copa's senior VP of commercial and network planning Dennis Cary said the airline had talked with both United and Avianca "throughout the last two years". He declined to specify if Copa had talked with the two airlines jointly or separately. "Occasionally the questions come up. Given the fact that no one else had reached an announcement, we felt it was important to disclose our participation in it," he said. Earlier this month, Copa emerged as the third party in joint venture talks between United and Avianca - which were first announced in early 2017. Cary said a three-way joint venture "makes sense" for all the airlines involved, pointing out Copa's long relationship with United and its partnership with Avianca through the Star Alliance. Both Copa and Avianca joined the alliance on the same day in June 2012. "Three of us would essentially have a joint offer for US-Latin America traffic, and what that brings is the ability for all of us to benefit from our combined networks, offering customers many more choices and a lot more flexibility," said Cary.<br/>